Distributed outdoor network apparatus and methods

ABSTRACT

Novel tools and techniques providing for the robust wireless distribution of communications signals from a provider to multiple customer premises. Certain embodiments comprise one or more modular communications apparatuses which are located near to customer premises. The modular communications apparatuses features an enclosure which is, at least in part, transparent to radio frequencies. A modular communications apparatus also typically includes one or more communications radios or transmitter/receiver devices within the enclosure. The apparatus also includes at least one and possibly more than one antenna located within the enclosure along with wire or cable-based signal output apparatus.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/764,482, filed Feb. 11, 2013 by Charles I. Cook and titled“Distributed Outdoor Network Apparatus and Methods”, which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialthat is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates, in general, to communications serviceprovider networks, and more particularly, to tools and techniques thatenable a service provider to distribute communications signals locallyfrom a modular communications apparatus to one or more customer premisesafter distributing the communications signals regionally over an opticalfiber network.

BACKGROUND

“Fiber to the curb” (FTTC) refers to the deployment of broadband opticalcommunications fibers from a central office or a regional switchlocation to locations reasonably close to but not within customerpremises. For example, a telecommunications or other network utilizingFTTC might feature optical fiber placed within the utility easementalong the streets or sidewalks outside of customer premises. Typically,another medium such as coaxial cable or twisted-pair wires is used tocarry communications signals from the optical fiber network the shortdistance between the curb and customer owned devices or customer managednetworks inside nearby home or business premises.

The optical fiber backbone of an FTTC implementation can carry telephonesignals, television signals, on-demand media, high-bandwidth datasignals and other digital signals. Unfortunately, many existing conduitsfrom the curb to the customer such as twisted-pair telephone wires havedramatically less capacity than the optical fiber at the curb. Thisimbalance results in significantly reduced bandwidth and performance atthe customer premises. Higher bandwidth links between each customer andthe curb, for example, dedicated lateral fiber optic lines, can be tooexpensive for reasonable implementation and involve significant retrofitcosts to update existing wires. These issues, and others, compromise aprovider's ability to effectively implement FTTC signal distributionnetworks. Hence, there is a need for solutions that can overcome thetechnical hurdles of relatively inexpensively and conveniently conveyinghigh-bandwidth communications signals from an optical fiber “at thecurb” (or otherwise near multiple customer premises) to communicationsdevices or networks located within the customer premises.

BRIEF SUMMARY

One set of embodiments includes tools and techniques to enable therobust wire-based and wireless distribution of communications signalsfrom a provider to multiple customer premises. Certain embodimentscomprise modular communications apparatuses which are located near tocustomer premises. For example, a modular communications apparatus couldbe implemented as an inconspicuous device located near 1, 2, 3, 5, 10 ormore customer premises. Each modular communications apparatus featuresan enclosure which is, at least in part, transparent to radiofrequencies. A modular communications apparatus also typically includesone or more communications radios or transmitter/receiver devices withinthe enclosure. The apparatus also includes at least one and possiblymore than one antenna located within the enclosure.

The antenna or antennas plus the upstream signal processing componentsprovide for a modular communications apparatus to transmit a wirelesscommunications signal to multiple wireless devices located withinmultiple customer premises located near the modular communicationsapparatus. The apparatus also includes a wired communications switchwithin the enclosure. The wired communications switch includes a wiredsignal output and is therefore configured to provide wiredcommunications signals to wire or cable-input communications deviceslocated within the multiple customer premises.

The apparatus further includes supporting electronic and opticalcomponents including but not limited to; a fiber management moduleconfigured to receive an input optical communications signal and a mediaconverter configured to convert the input optical communications signalto an electrical communication signal. The electrical communicationsignal may then be communicated to the wired or wireless outboundcommunications components. The modular communications apparatus willtypically also include at least a power converter module or modules anda base supporting the enclosure.

Alternative embodiments include methods of distributing communicationssignals from a provider to multiple customer premises using theapparatus described above. The methods feature, but are not limited to,communicating one or more electrical communication signals through acable or other wire-based medium to multiple customer premises andtransmitting one or more wireless communications signals from one ormore antennas to multiple wireless devices located within multiplecustomer premises. In each case, the wired and wireless signals aretransmitted or distributed to customer premises from one or more modularcommunications apparatus located nearby, as described above.

Another set of representative embodiments include communications systemsincluding, but not limited to, multiple modular communicationsapparatuses as described herein.

In the various apparatus, method and system embodiments, the modularcommunications apparatuses may comprise two or more vertically stackedenclosure modules. At least one of the enclosure modules will betransparent to radio frequencies. For example, the uppermost enclosuremodule may be transparent to radio frequencies. The modularcommunications apparatuses may also include multiple integrated heightextension joints connecting adjacent enclosure modules.

The electronic components of a modular communications apparatus asdescribed herein may be implemented with any suitable componentry. Forexample, the wired communications switch may be implemented with anEthernet switch, a mini D-SLAM or other suitable device(s). Thecommunications radio or transmitter/receiver device or devices may beimplemented with a Wi-Fi radio, an LTE radio, a VDSL2 radio, a G fastradio an ONU radio or other suitable devices. Power to the modularcommunications apparatus may be input to the power converter module froma local power feed, power from a customer premises, with power over anetwork or other suitable power source.

In system and method embodiments, the system may include multiplemodular communications apparatuses distributed over a service areaproviding wireless and wired communications services to more customersthan can be serviced by a single modular communications apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of particularembodiments may be realized by reference to the remaining portions ofthe specification and the drawings, in which like reference numerals areused to refer to similar components. In some instances, a sub-label isassociated with a reference numeral to denote one of multiple similarcomponents. When reference is made to a reference numeral withoutspecification to an existing sub-label, it is intended to refer to allsuch multiple similar components.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a modular communications apparatus, inaccordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a modular communications apparatusfeaturing an enclosure extension.

FIG. 3 is a plan view schematic diagram of the modular communicationsapparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of an upper enclosure section.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a modular communications apparatusillustrating wired, optical and wireless communications pathways betweenthe apparatus and multiple customer premises.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a modular communications apparatussystem.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an alternative modular communicationsapparatus system.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of power source alternatives in a modularcommunications apparatus system.

FIG. 9 is a process flow diagram illustrating a method of distributingcommunication signals from a provider to multiple customer premises.

FIG. 10 is a generalized schematic diagram illustrating a computersystem, in accordance with various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN EMBODIMENTS

While various aspects and features of certain embodiments have beensummarized above, the following detailed description illustrates a fewexemplary embodiments in further detail to enable one of skill in theart to practice such embodiments. The described examples are providedfor illustrative purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of theinvention.

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the described embodiments. It will be apparent to oneskilled in the art, however, that other embodiments of the present maybe practiced without some of these specific details. In other instances,certain structures and devices are shown in block diagram form. Severalembodiments are described herein, and while various features areascribed to different embodiments, it should be appreciated that thefeatures described with respect to one embodiment may be incorporatedwith other embodiments as well. By the same token, however, no singlefeature or features of any described embodiment should be consideredessential to every embodiment of the invention, as other embodiments ofthe invention may omit such features.

Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers used herein to expressquantities, dimensions, and so forth used should be understood as beingmodified in all instances by the term “about.” In this application, theuse of the singular includes the plural unless specifically statedotherwise, and use of the terms “and” and “or” means “and/or” unlessotherwise indicated. Moreover, the use of the term “including,” as wellas other forms, such as “includes” and “included,” should be considerednon-exclusive. Also, terms such as “element” or “component” encompassboth elements and components comprising one unit and elements andcomponents that comprise more than one unit, unless specifically statedotherwise.

Certain embodiments disclosed herein address the technical difficulties,cost and other problems associated with conveying communications signalsof any type from a “fiber to the curb” (FTTC) network to various typesof devices or local networks within nearby customer premises. Generally,the embodiments disclosed herein feature the use of a modularcommunications apparatus or “pillar” which receives communicationsignals from a regional distribution point, through an optical fiber.The modular communications apparatus then transmits communicationsignals to one (or typically several) customer premises after anynecessary signal conversion steps. The communications signals may betransmitted from the modular communications apparatus to devices ornetworks within the customer premises either wirelessly, over a wiresuch as a coaxial cable, a data cable or a twisted-pair telephonecommunications cable or over an optical fiber. In certainimplementations, multiple alternative transmission media, for examplewireless transmission plus wired signal communication may be implementedbetween one modular communications apparatus and various customerpremises. Thus, the disclosed communications apparatus provides a greatdeal of flexibility to a service provider concerned with efficiently andeffectively transmitting high-bandwidth communication signals from aFTTC optical network to multiple customer premises.

One particular embodiment of modular communications apparatus 100 isillustrated in FIG. 1. The modular communications apparatus 100 will belocated outside of, but relatively near, one or more customer premises.For example, the modular communications apparatus 100 may be locatedoutside of, but within 1 to 1000 feet of one or typically severalcustomer premises.

The modular communications apparatus 100 includes an enclosure 102 whichmay be composed of multiple sections or a single section. As describedin detail below, the modular communications apparatus 100 provides forwireless communications between one or more apparatus antennas 104 andone or more customer premises. Therefore, if the enclosure 102 isimplemented in a single section the enclosure must be transparent to RFtransmissions. In embodiments where multiple sections are used toimplement the enclosure 102, only the enclosure sections housingantennas must be RF transparent. Radio-opaque materials can be used forenclosure sections which do not house internal antennas 104. In thespecific embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the enclosure 102 includes anupper section 106 and a lower section 108. The upper section 106 housesan antenna 104 and is therefore fabricated from an RF transparentmaterial.

FIG. 2 illustrates a variation of the modular communications apparatus100 which is substantially identical to the FIG. 1 embodiment with theexception of an additional vertically stacked enclosure section 110positioned between the upper enclosure section 106 and lower enclosuresection 108. Inclusion of one or more additional enclosure sections 110provides a convenient way to selectively adjust the height of theantenna element 104 above the ground. In this manner, the wirelesscoverage range of a modular communications apparatus 100 may be enhancedor adjusted as described in detail below. Both FIG. 1 and FIG. 2illustrate apparatus enclosures 102 which have height extension joints112 incorporated into the enclosure sections at convenient locations.The height extension joints 112 may be separate elements or can beintegrated with the enclosure sections. In either case, the heightextension joints provide a convenient means for adjusting the overallheight of a modular communications apparatus 100 and thereby adjustingthe height of any internal antenna 104.

The modular communications apparatus 100 may be implemented with anenclosure 102 which is cylindrical, rectangular or of any other crosssectional shape. Any provided upper section 106 may or may not have thesame dimensions or shape as lower sections. In one embodiment, theenclosure 102 is implemented as a cylindrical pillar having an outsidediameter of approximately 8 inches and any suitable height as determinedby the number of vertically stacked enclosure modules included.

The modular communications apparatus 100 and will typically also includea base 114 supporting the enclosure 102. The base may be fabricated frommetal, concrete, plastic or other suitable material. Alternatively, thebase may have multiple sections, for example a concrete foundation andmetal base plate. The base should be sufficiently stable and secured tothe ground in a suitable manner to permanently or semi-permanentlyanchor the apparatus enclosure 102 to the ground or pavement. The base114 may include holes or conduits providing for buried optical fiber orother communications media to pass up through the base and into theinterior of the apparatus enclosure 102.

Together, the base 114 and enclosure 102 elevate the antenna(s) 104 andprotect various internal electronic devices from weather, vandalism orother damage. The base 114 and enclosure 102 also will typically includeaccess openings providing access “at the curb” for various internalelectronic devices. The convenient use of the enclosure 102 may beenhanced by including one or more shelves 116 defining multiple slots toneatly house the electronic components positioned within the enclosure.As illustrated in the plan view of FIG. 3, the enclosure 102 may alsoinclude or define partitions separating the internal device region 118from rear cabling conduits 120 and front cabling conduits 122.

As noted above, certain implementations will include an RF transparentupper section 106 or cap. As illustrated in FIG. 4 the upper section 106may be implemented with a domed structure which provides effective rainand snow protection. A domed upper section 106 may include multiplestructural layers with selected layers being perforated by ventilationconduits 124 to provide for ventilation while maintaining weatherprotection.

The electronic devices positioned within the enclosure 102 may includebut are not limited to the following: a power converter module 126, afiber management module 128, a media converter 130, a wiredcommunications switch 132, a communications radio 134 and an antenna104. Other communications electronics may be included as desired.Furthermore, the above listed components may be duplicated or eliminatedas necessary to achieve specific curb-to-customer communications goals.Each of the above listed components is described in detail below.

The fiber management module 128 provides an optical fiber input to themodular communications apparatus 100. In use, one or typically multipleoptical communication signals are input to the modular communicationsapparatus 100 from a regional fiber network at the fiber managementmodule. The fiber management module 128 may also include any opticalsplitters or other fiber connections necessary to communicate theoptical communications signal to other devices or components asdescribed herein. Although the modular communications apparatus is wellsuited for use with an FTTC network, in certain alternative embodiments,the input to the modular communications apparatus 100 could be or couldinclude a copper wire or cable. In such an implementation, the fibermanagement module may include or be replaced by a cable managementmodule.

The optical communications signal received at the fiber managementmodule 128 is conveyed to one or more media converters 130 housed withinthe modular communications apparatus 100. In addition, the opticalsignal input to the fiber management module 128 may be conveyed to oneor more customer premises or additional modular communicationsapparatuses 100 through lateral optical fibers, as described in detailbelow.

The media converter element 130 converts the optical communicationssignal received from the fiber management module 128 into an electricalcommunications signal that in turn feeds other components. The signalconversion method or methods implemented by the media converter 130 willdepend upon the specifications of the devices used to communicate thesignals to customer premises. For example, as described in detail below,the media converter 130 may provide an electrical communications signalto a GigE Ethernet switch in communication with a wireless radio. Insuch an implementation, the media converter 130 may be aGPON-to-1000BASE-T, Optical GigE-to-1000BASE-T or similar Ethernetconverter. The media converter 130 may alternatively be implemented withan EoCu-to-1000BASE-T converter or any other appropriate backhaultechnology, for example, the media converter could also be a wirelessbackhaul link or other suitable technology in implementations whereoptical fiber is not available at the modular communications apparatus100.

The electrical communications signal from the media converter 130 istherefore provided to one or more wired communications switches 132located within the enclosure 102. For example, one possible wiredcommunications switch is a multi-port GigE Ethernet switch which may beconnected to one or more communications radios 134. In addition,management of the modular communications apparatus 100 and the variouscomponents contained therein may be accomplished through acommunications interface associated with the switch 132. Other types ofwired communications switches may be used in alternativeimplementations. For example, the wired communications switch 132 may beimplemented with a mini D-SLAM providing for DSL communications.

The communications radios or transmitter/receivers 134 can be selectedto transmit WiFi, LTE or other types of communications signals. Forexample, the transmitter/receiver 134 could be a VDSL2 radio, a G fastradio and an ONU radio. The term “radio” as defined herein could be anytype of transmitting and receiving device. For example, VDSL2 and G.fastare technologies that run over copper. An ONU is typically an opticaldevice. Wireless radios are typically associated with wirelesscommunications links. The terms “transceiver” or “transmitter/receiver”device are therefore synonymous with “radio” as used herein. In certainimplementations multiple types of radio or transmitter/receiver 134 maybe provided within the enclosure 102. Ideally, the multiple types oftransmitter/receiver devices will typically have a common switchinterface for example a GigE or RJ-45 interface that allows eachtransmitter/receiver to be conveniently connected to the same wiredcommunications switch 132.

The communications radio or transmitter/receivers 134 included withinthe modular communications apparatus enclosure provide for wirelesscommunication, through antenna 104, with various types of wirelessdevice or network controllers within nearby customer premises. Incertain implementations, multiple antennas may be used and in some casesantennas may be stacked. Certain antennas may be directional and accessopenings may be made within the enclosure 102 allowing for theconvenient orienting of directional antennas. As noted above, the heightof any antenna or antennas 104 may be adjusted by adding or subtractingenclosure sections 110. Thus, the coverage area for the wirelesscommunications signal or signals transmitted from each modularcommunications apparatus may be selected and adjusted to cover one ortypically multiple customer premises. A system of modular communicationsapparatuses may be implemented as described below to provide servicesover a wide region.

The modular communications apparatus 100 therefore provides a wirelessfinal communications link between a service provider's FTTC opticalnetwork and one or more customer's premises. In addition, asschematically illustrated in FIG. 5, the modular communicationsapparatus 100 may also provide a direct wired communications signal overa wire or cable 136 from the wired communications switch 132 to wiredcommunications devices or network hubs located within the customerpremises. In certain embodiments, the modular communications apparatus100 may also provide a direct optical communications signal over opticalfiber 138 to one or more optical communications devices or networkslocated within customer premises.

The modular communications apparatus 100 may therefore be selectivelyimplemented to provide communication signals between a network,typically a FTTC optical network to one or more premises wirelessly,over a wire or cable, or over an optical fiber. In addition, one modularcommunications apparatus 100 can typically service several customerpremises. Thus, the modular communications apparatus 100 provides agreat deal of flexibility to service providers and customers.

Multiple modular communications apparatuses may be connected to aregional FTTC network to provide communication services to all or manycustomers within a given region. The number and type of antennasselected and the relative height of specific modular communicationapparatus enclosures 102 may be selected to provide regional wirelesscoverage with substantially fewer modular communication apparatuses 100than customers. As shown in FIG. 6, each of the multiple modularcommunications apparatuses 100 in a system may be in directcommunication with a central office 140 or other signal distributionpoint, over dedicated optical fibers 142. Alternatively, as illustratedin FIG. 7, the various modular communications apparatuses 100 of asystem may be connected to a central office 140 through a passiveoptical network 144 comprising a multifiber optical cable 145transmitting one or many optical communications signals from the centraloffice 140 to one or more optical splitters 146. At the optical splitter146, the optical communications signals may be split for transmissionover dedicated optical fibers 142 to various modular communicationsapparatuses 100 in a system. Furthermore, certain modular communicationsapparatuses may receive an input optical signal over a lateral opticalfiber 148 originating from the fiber management module 128 of anothermodular communications apparatus.

Each of the modular communications apparatuses of a system willtypically include a power converter module 126. The power convertermodule serves to supply AC or DC power to the other components includedwithin the modular communications apparatus enclosure 102. Asillustrated in FIG. 8, power may be supplied to the power conversionmodule 126 from many alternative or complementary sources. For examplepower may be supplied from a local power feed 150, through a back-powerline from a customer premises or over a network 154. In certainembodiments the voltage and current characteristics of the powersupplied to the electronic devices housed within a given modularcommunications apparatus 100 will be uniform for all devices, therebyenhancing the modularity of the apparatus.

As described in detail above, a system of modular communicationsapparatuses 100 may be implemented to provide communications signalsfrom an FTTC optical network to one or often multiple customer premises.The communications signals may be of any type including but not limitedto telecommunications signals, data signals or television and mediasignals. Some or all of the devices or networks within multiple customerpremises may be in communication with a single modular communicationsapparatus 100. The nature and type of supported customer devices is notintended to be limited by this disclosure. Representative examples ofcustomer devices which may communicate with a FTTC network through amodular communication apparatus system as described herein include butare not limited to, telephones, smart phones, personal digitalassistants, computers, televisions, game stations, smart appliances andsimilar devices.

As shown in FIG. 9, the apparatuses and systems described above may beused to implement a method 200 of distributing communication signalsfrom a provider to multiple customer premises. The method may includebut is not limited to the steps of providing a modular communicationsapparatus 100 as described above outside of multiple customer premises(step 202). The method may further include receiving, at the fibermanagement module of a modular communications apparatus, an opticalcommunications signal (step 204). The optical communications signal maythen be converted to an electrical communications signal in a mediaconverter module (step 206). The electrical communications signal willbe provided to a wired communications switch (step 208). From theswitch, the electrical communications signal may be provided to one ormore wireless communications radios and transmitted to wireless devicesor networks located within multiple customer premises, step (210). Inaddition or alternatively, the electrical communications signal may betransmitted directly to one or more devices located within customerpremises over a cable, wire or other electrical pathway (step 212). Incertain instances, an optical communications signal may be transmittedfrom the fiber management module directly to one or more devicesreceiving optical input located within customer premises.

In certain embodiments the system of modular communications apparatusesor individual communications pillars may be controlled using acentralized computer system. In addition, the disclosed methods may beimplemented using a computer system. FIG. 10 provides a schematicillustration of one embodiment of a computer system 300 that can performthe methods provided by various other embodiments, as described herein,and/or can function as the processing system of one or more modularcommunications apparatuses. It should be noted that FIG. 10 is meantonly to provide a generalized illustration of various components, ofwhich one or more (or none) of each may be utilized as appropriate. FIG.10, therefore, broadly illustrates how individual system elements may beimplemented in a relatively separated or relatively more integratedmanner.

The computer system 300 is shown comprising hardware elements that canbe electrically coupled via a bus 305 (or may otherwise be incommunication, as appropriate). The hardware elements may include one ormore processors 310, including without limitation one or moregeneral-purpose processors and/or one or more special-purpose processors(such as digital signal processing chips, graphics accelerationprocessors, and/or the like); one or more input devices 315, which caninclude without limitation a mouse, a keyboard and/or the like; and oneor more output devices 320, which can include without limitation adisplay device, a printer and/or the like.

The computer system 300 may further include (and/or be in communicationwith) one or more storage devices 325, which can comprise, withoutlimitation, local and/or network accessible storage, and/or can include,without limitation, a disk drive, a drive array, an optical storagedevice, solid-state storage device such as a random access memory(“RAM”) and/or a read-only memory (“ROM”), which can be programmable,flash-updateable and/or the like. Such storage devices may be configuredto implement any appropriate data stores, including without limitation,various file systems, database structures, and/or the like.

The computer system 300 might also include a communications subsystem330, which can include without limitation a modem, a network card(wireless or wired), an infra-red communication device, a wirelesscommunication device and/or chipset (such as a Bluetooth™ device, a WiFidevice implemented on an 802.11 standard, a WiMax device implemented onan IEEE 802.16 standard, a WWAN device, cellular communicationfacilities, etc.), and/or the like. The communications subsystem 330 maypermit data to be exchanged with a network (such as the networkdescribed below, to name one example), with other computer systems,and/or with any other devices described herein. In many embodiments, thecomputer system 300 will further comprise a working memory 335, whichcan include a RAM or ROM device, as described above.

The computer system 300 also may comprise software elements, shown asbeing currently located within the working memory 335, including anoperating system 340, device drivers, executable libraries, and/or othercode, such as one or more application programs 345, which may comprisecomputer programs provided by various embodiments, and/or may bedesigned to implement methods, and/or configure systems, provided byother embodiments, as described herein. Merely by way of example, one ormore procedures described with respect to the method(s) discussed abovemight be implemented as code and/or instructions executable by acomputer (and/or a processor within a computer); in an aspect, then,such code and/or instructions can be used to configure and/or adapt ageneral purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or moreoperations in accordance with the described methods.

A set of these instructions and/or code might be encoded and/or storedon a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, such as thestorage device(s) 325 described above. In some cases, the storage mediummight be incorporated within a computer system, such as the system 300.In other embodiments, the storage medium might be separate from acomputer system (i.e., a removable medium, such as a compact disc,etc.), and/or provided in an installation package, such that the storagemedium can be used to program, configure and/or adapt a general purposecomputer with the instructions/code stored thereon. These instructionsmight take the form of executable code, which is executable by thecomputer system 300 and/or might take the form of source and/orinstallable code, which, upon compilation and/or installation on thecomputer system 300 (e.g., using any of a variety of generally availablecompilers, installation programs, compression/decompression utilities,etc.) then takes the form of executable code.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that substantialvariations may be made in accordance with specific requirements. Forexample, customized hardware (such as programmable logic controllers,field-programmable gate arrays, application-specific integratedcircuits, and/or the like) might also be used, and/or particularelements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portablesoftware, such as applets, etc.), or both. Further, connection to othercomputing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed.

As mentioned above, in one aspect, some embodiments may employ acomputer system (such as the computer system 300) to perform methods inaccordance with various embodiments of the invention. According to a setof embodiments, some or all of the procedures of such methods areperformed by the computer system 300 in response to processor 310executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions (which mightbe incorporated into the operating system 340 and/or other code, such asan application program 345) contained in the working memory 335. Suchinstructions may be read into the working memory 335 from anothercomputer readable medium, such as one or more of the storage device(s)325. Merely by way of example, execution of the sequences ofinstructions contained in the working memory 335 might cause theprocessor(s) 310 to perform one or more procedures of the methodsdescribed herein.

The terms “machine readable medium” and “computer readable medium,” asused herein, refer to any medium that participates in providing datathat causes a machine to operation in a specific fashion. In anembodiment implemented using the computer system 300, various computerreadable media might be involved in providing instructions/code toprocessor(s) 310 for execution and/or might be used to store and/orcarry such instructions/code (e.g., as signals). In manyimplementations, a computer readable medium is a non-transitory,physical and/or tangible storage medium. Such a medium may take manyforms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media,and transmission media. Non-volatile media includes, for example,optical and/or magnetic disks, such as the storage device(s) 325.Volatile media includes, without limitation, dynamic memory, such as theworking memory 335. Transmission media includes, without limitation,coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, including the wires thatcomprise the bus 305, as well as the various components of thecommunication subsystem 330 (and/or the media by which thecommunications subsystem 330 provides communication with other devices).Hence, transmission media can also take the form of waves (includingwithout limitation radio, acoustic and/or light waves, such as thosegenerated during radio-wave and infra-red data communications).

Common forms of physical and/or tangible computer readable mediainclude, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, a hard disk,magnetic tape, or any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, any other opticalmedium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patternsof holes, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chipor cartridge, a carrier wave as described hereinafter, or any othermedium from which a computer can read instructions and/or code.

Various forms of computer readable media may be involved in carrying oneor more sequences of one or more instructions to the processor(s) 310for execution. Merely by way of example, the instructions may initiallybe carried on a magnetic disk and/or optical disc of a remote computer.A remote computer might load the instructions into its dynamic memoryand send the instructions as signals over a transmission medium to bereceived and/or executed by the computer system 300. These signals,which might be in the form of electromagnetic signals, acoustic signals,optical signals and/or the like, are all examples of carrier waves onwhich instructions can be encoded, in accordance with variousembodiments of the invention.

The communications subsystem 330 (and/or components thereof) generallywill receive the signals, and the bus 305 then might carry the signals(and/or the data, instructions, etc. carried by the signals) to theworking memory 335, from which the processor(s) 305 retrieves andexecutes the instructions. The instructions received by the workingmemory 335 may optionally be stored on a storage device 325 eitherbefore or after execution by the processor(s) 310.

While certain features and aspects have been described with respect toexemplary embodiments, one skilled in the art will recognize thatnumerous modifications are possible. For example, the methods andprocesses described herein may be implemented using hardware components,software components, and/or any combination thereof. Further, whilevarious methods and processes described herein may be described withrespect to particular structural and/or functional components for easeof description, methods provided by various embodiments are not limitedto any particular structural and/or functional architecture but insteadcan be implemented on any suitable hardware, firmware and/or softwareconfiguration. Similarly, while certain functionality is ascribed tocertain system components, unless the context dictates otherwise, thisfunctionality can be distributed among various other system componentsin accordance with the several embodiments.

Moreover, while the procedures of the methods and processes describedherein are described in a particular order for ease of description,unless the context dictates otherwise, various procedures may bereordered, added, and/or omitted in accordance with various embodiments.Moreover, the procedures described with respect to one method or processmay be incorporated within other described methods or processes;likewise, system components described according to a particularstructural architecture and/or with respect to one system may beorganized in alternative structural architectures and/or incorporatedwithin other described systems. Hence, while various embodiments aredescribed with—or without—certain features for ease of description andto illustrate exemplary aspects of those embodiments, the variouscomponents and/or features described herein with respect to a particularembodiment can be substituted, added and/or subtracted from among otherdescribed embodiments, unless the context dictates otherwise.Consequently, although several exemplary embodiments are describedabove, it will be appreciated that the invention is intended to coverall modifications and equivalents within the scope of the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A modular communications apparatus comprising: ahousing comprising multiple vertically stacked housing modules, whereinat least a first housing module of the vertically stacked housingmodules is transparent to radio frequencies; a communications radiolocated within a second module of the multiple vertically stackedhousing modules; an antenna located within the first housing module, theantenna being in electronic communication with the communications radio,the antenna being further configured to transmit a wirelesscommunications signal to multiple wireless devices located withinmultiple customer premises; a power converter module within one of thehousing modules configured to receive input power from at least one of alocal power feed, power from a customer premises and power over anetwork; and a base supporting the multiple vertically stacked housingmodules.
 2. The modular communications apparatus of claim 1 where onlythe uppermost housing module is transparent to radio frequencies.
 3. Themodular communications apparatus of claim 2 further comprising multipleintegrated height extension joints connecting adjacent housing modules.4. The modular communications apparatus of claim 1 further comprising awired communications switch within a housing module, having a wiredsignal output, wherein the wired communications switch comprises atleast one of an Ethernet switch and a mini D-SLAM.
 5. The modularcommunications apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a fibermanagement module within one of housing modules configured to receive anoptical communications signal input, wherein the fiber management moduleis further configured to provide optical communications output over anoptical fiber to multiple optical communications devices located withinmultiple customer premises.
 6. The modular communications apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the communications radio comprises at least one of aWiFi radio, an LTE radio, a VDSL2 radio, a G fast radio and an ONUradio.
 7. A method of distributing communications signals from aprovider to multiple customer premises comprising: providing a modularcommunications apparatus outside of multiple customer premises, themodular communications apparatus comprising; a housing comprisingmultiple vertically stacked housing modules, wherein at least a firsthousing module of the vertically stacked housing modules is transparentto radio frequencies; a communications radio located within a secondmodule of the multiple vertically stacked housing modules; an antennalocated within the first housing module, the antenna being in electroniccommunication with the communications radio; a power converter withinone of the housing modules; and a base supporting the multiplevertically stacked housing modules; providing input power to the powerconverter module from at least one of a local power feed, power from acustomer premises and power over a network; and transmitting a wirelesscommunications signal from the communications radio, through the antennato multiple wireless devices located within multiple customer premises.8. The method of claim 7 further comprising: providing multiplevertically stacked housing modules where only the uppermost housingmodule is transparent to radio frequencies; and selecting the height ofthe antenna by adding or removing housing modules from the housing. 9.The method claim 7 further comprising providing a wired communicationsswitch comprising at least one of an Ethernet switch and a mini D-SLAM.10. The method claim 7 further comprising providing an opticalcommunications signal from a communications output of a fiber managementmodule to multiple optical communications devices located withinmultiple customer premises.
 11. The method claim 7 further comprisingproviding a communications radio comprising at least one of a WiFiradio, an LTE radio, a VDSL2 radio, a G fast radio and an ONU radio. 12.The method claim 7 further comprising further comprising providing powerto the communications radio form a power converter module.
 13. Acommunications system comprising: multiple modular communicationsapparatuses, with each modular communications apparatus comprising: ahousing comprising multiple vertically stacked housing modules, whereinat least a first housing module of the vertically stacked housingmodules is transparent to radio frequencies; a communications radiolocated within a second module of the multiple vertically stackedhousing modules; an antenna located within the first housing module, theantenna being in electronic communication with the communications radio,the antenna being further configured to transmit a wirelesscommunications signal to multiple wireless devices located withinmultiple customer premises; a power converter module within one of thehousing modules configured to receive input power from at least one of alocal power feed, power from a customer premises and power over anetwork; and a base supporting the multiple vertically stacked housingmodules; and an optical fiber network providing the opticalcommunications signal to the fiber management module of each modularcommunications apparatus.
 14. The communications system of claim 13further comprising: a multifiber optical cable transmitting the opticalcommunications signal to an optical splitter; and branch optical fiberstransmitting the optical communications signal from the optical splitterto multiple modular communications apparatuses.
 15. The communicationssystem of claim 14 further comprising at least one lateral optical fibertransmitting the optical communications signal from the fiber managementmodule of a first modular communications device to the fiber managementmodule of a second modular communications device.
 16. The communicationssystem of claim 13 wherein at least one modular communications apparatusfurther comprises multiple vertically stacked housing modules where onlythe uppermost housing module is transparent to radio frequencies. 17.The communications system of claim 13 wherein a fiber management moduleof at least one modular communications apparatus is configured toprovide optical communications output over an optical fiber to multipleoptical communications devices located within multiple customerpremises.